If The End Comes
by Elmo.E.Kazi
Summary: PostHogwarts The war takes a dark turn. Rescued from Malfoy Manor by Severus, Hermione works along side her friends to figure a way to win the war while struggling with odd feelings sprouting in her heart. HGSS
1. Prologue

**AN: **Only the prologue is done in POV and that would be Hermione's. I don't know how long I actually will run this story before I discontinue it (if I do) or if I post it at all. I've already gone through several HG/SS stories for testing the waters and my ability to place them in a setting and try to keep them in character (a very hard thing for me to do). I can only hope this one turns out all right. In addition, I would like to state that I do like this pairing and I am in love with Severus Snape, and Alan Rickman (although he is 44 years my senior ((I wish he would marry my mom))). Just one last ting: In my stories, Blaise can be either a girl or a boy. In one story, this one for that matter, Blaise may be a she while in others, he may be a he. Ahem, anyway, here goes nothing.

VM13

PS Please do tell me if you think of a better title of this since I am no good at coming up with titles. Also, I know it's short but prologues are always short.

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**Disclaimer! **!i!This applies to the whole story !i! I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters! They completely belong to JK Rowling, the master and commander! In addition, any names used for OC's in this story are entirely fictional!

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**Title:** If The End Comes

**Author: **VeilMistress13 (Pen Name subject to change)

**Rating:** M

**Genre(s): **Romance/Action/Adventure/Angst/(and a itsy-bitsy amount of) Humor

**Pairing(s): **Severus Snape/Hermione Granger, Harry Potter/Cho Chang, Ron Weasley/Blaise Zabini, Ginny Weasley/Draco Malfoy

**Summary:** There's a surprising turn of events in the Dark War and the world is plunged into darkness. Muggles and muggle-born's are used as special entertainment and servants (i.e. slaves, sex pets, etc.) for the Death Eaters and Voldemort. Hermione Granger was one of those captured by the Dark Lord. She was given to Lucius Malfoy as a present. What happens when a certain Potions professor spies her, crumpled, in the dungeons of Malfoy Manor? He buys her of course!

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•**Prologue•

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**

I groaned and lifted my head from the rough stone floor. I could still taste the metallic flavor of blood in my mouth and my whole body ached. I felt violated. So very violated. My legs were spread wide and I was naked. I was sprawled on the stone floor, the cold of it sending chills down my aching body. I felt exposed. I never thought anyone could be so vicious. I guess I was proved wrong by Lucius Malfoy. He must have been the devil himself…no wait, that would be Voldemort.

It didn't seem like a long time ago that I had been graduating from Hogwarts. In fact, it had been before I found myself trapped in the dungeons of Malfoy Manor as a "pet" to the master of the house. The world had become a mess after Harry, Ron, and I had graduated. Voldemort had gathered more followers than ever and they had overrun the Ministry, killing the new minister in the process. Voldemort now held the top seat over all of the world, wizarding and muggle alike. Anyone who had defied him had been killed. I wished I knew if that fate had befallen Harry but I had no such luck. I had been captured a short two weeks after graduation and there I was, on my back, shackles pinning my arms and legs to the floor of the dark dungeon room.

The room smelt sickly on death and blood. I was sure the blood was my own. Lucius Malfoy had ripped into me with such brutality that I'm not only bleeding from the cuts in my skin and from the blood that had found its way from my mouth on such abusive occasions, but also from very…_personal _areas. He used absolutely no protection either. I might have been carrying a Malfoy child in womb for all I knew.

I was ready to doze into a light sleep after a particularly violent evening, a sleep haunted by the same dreams as always, when the door to the room opened and I had to muffle a groan. The light from the dungeon corridor was blinding and I was in no state for Lucius to have any more fun with me for the second time that hour. I squinted through the light and saw that there was not one, but two mean approaching me.

'_Bloody hell, no,'_ I thought. I could just barely handle Lucius, not the bastard and one of his Death Eater friends. I squirmed in my shackles, knowing that I wouldn't get free and only managing to irritate the blisters on my ankles and wrists further.

"Feisty one, isn't she, Severus?" came the familiar drawl of Malfoy Senior as he made a move toward me. My eyes snapped open and I managed to look over, taking in the sight of my former Potions professor standing in the doorway. "I'm sorry to say she isn't in the best condition. I just got through with her naught but forty-five minutes ago. Quite a good fuck though. Squirms under you like an animal in a trap. The skin on her face is flawless, though. I wouldn't harm that since it's so soft, giving her a kind of innocence. So what do you say, old friend? Ready for a ride?"

I nearly choked. Snape was here for…a _ride_? I spent all those years standing up for him! Telling Ron and Harry that he was on our side only to be proven terribly wrong! It was his fault! It must have been! He must have been feeding information toe the Dark Lord that whole time, giving away everything that Dumbledore fought so hard to hide.

"How much is it to _keep_ her, Lucius?" asked Snape, looking me up and down. '_You pervert!'_ I thought, clenching my fists in rage.

"To keep her?" questioned Lucius getting to his feet from where he'd been crouching near me. "I don't know, Severus. She is awfully fun."

"You have others, Lucius," Snape reasoned. "I'm sure it will not do much harm to give up one. More to the point, this one catches my fancy out of the rest of you…_collection_. How much?"

Lucius seemed to think it over, glancing between Snape and myself several times before letting out a defeated smile and giving a slightly crazed grin to his friend.

"I suppose there's no way to deter you from what you desire, Severus," drawled Lucius, looking me over a few times, the gears whirring in his head. "Ten galleons. A discount since we're such old friends. Normally I'd sell this one of at about fifteen."

I scoffed but the silencing charm that Lucius had placed on me earlier still hadn't worn off. Snape gave him a narrow-eyed look and then reached into the pocked on his ebony robes, pulling out a small satchel. She poured the contents out into Lucius's hand. I count quickly and found exactly twenty galleons were there.

"Keep the rest Lucius," Snape stated, coming toward me. "Since it is a rush delivery."

"Rush delivery?" asked Malfoy Senior.

"Yes, I'll be taking her with me right now," Snape replied, his eyes glinting in the torchlight from just outside the dungeon room. "I have some…_things_ I need to get done that she would be useful for."

Lucius let out a cruel cackle and then handed Snape the keys to my shackles. "Whatever you say, old pal," he laughed. "I certainly hope you'll be able to get those…_things_ done and I do hope that this little nymph will be able to help you. I, on the other hand, must take into count the rest of my collection and decide on which I plan to use tonight. Farewell, Severus." With that, Lucius apparated away with a pop.

Snape came toward him, the keys in his hand. I glared at him as he knelt down next to me. He was close and he whispered something to me that made me visibly relax. He said the words that I'd been dying to hear ever since I had come to the Malfoy Manor.

"Don't worry. You're safe."


	2. Chapter One

**AN:** Yeah, okay, so the prologue was filled with a bunch of rambling about the story and very little of the story, but I use the prologues to set a setting and give information, which generally makes them small chapters. Oh, BTW, **prin69** made me think about something. My type of discontinue doesn't mean that it will _never _be finished. What I mean is when I think of a better story to start writing, it takes up most of my time and I end up neglecting the other stories I've written. Think more of…_delayed_ than _discontinued._ Sorry about that.

VM13

**If the End Comes**

**By: VeilMistress13**

•**Chapter One•**

Hermione couldn't remember when she passed out. All that she knew was that she did. Her body was still sore and weak but she felt warmer, safer, now that she was within the Snape residence. She snuggled deeper into the softness of the feather mattress and opened her eyes slowly. She was a little startled to find that she was no longer in the Malfoy Manor but in a cozy little room, dressed in a soft, cotton nightgown and tucked under a satin down comforter. She lifted her head from the pillow and looked around the room.

It was dimly lit by a few torches in the room and a crackling fire opposite the bed. The bed…Hermione breathed in deeply the soft jasmine sent of the scarlet pillows as she rested her head on them. She tugged the soft, red, satin coverlet over her body and rolled over onto her back, drinking in the soft glow of the golden clothed canopy. She stifled a yawn and rolled back onto her side, staring into the warmth of the fire once more. She jumped and nearly fell off the bed when she heard voice approaching her door from the corridor.

"I know, Poppy. I said 'I know, Poppy'!" came the slightly aggravated voice of Severus Snape. "Yes, she arrived last night and I said '_I know_,' Poppy!"

"I'm just making sure, Severus," replied the voice that Hermione remembered as belonging to Madam Pomfrey. "Where is she? In this room? Ah, good." The door to Hermione's room opened slowly and the medi-witch entered, followed closely by Snape. "She's awake! Good gracious! What have they done to you child?"

The elderly witch strode over and Hermione sat up, grateful that she had been changed into a nightgown. Suddenly, her face flushed, remembering that she had been naked, exposed, and spread before her old Potions professor not too long before. Madam Pomfrey took Hermione's chin in her hands and turned the brunette's face this was and that, taking in the few scars and scabs from previous injuries dealt to her by Lucius Malfoy and his colleagues. Poppy clicked her tongue and shook her head, before turning to Snape.

"Severus, would you mind leaving so that I may give her a thorough examination?" the medi-witch asked. The dark-haired wizard looked between the two witches for a moment before exiting the room. "Such a suspicious man of late, Severus has become. All right, deary. Please remove your nightgown and relax. No one here is going to hurt you."

Hermione reluctantly pulled the soft cotton nightgown over her head and tossed it onto a nearby pillow so that she could access it quickly if need be. Madam Pomfrey's eyes drifted over the several scars and injuries her and there on Hermione's usually pale skin. The elder witch sigh, shaking her head and clicking her tongue. She flicked her wand here and poked Hermione there until most of the scars and bleeding cuts had been removed.

"Lucius Malfoy is a savage bastard," growled Madam Pomfrey healing injuries in intimate places. Hermione's brows rose. Madam Pomfrey barely ever cursed and when she did, they were small 'damns' or 'hells'. Everything that was happening was odd to Hermione. Things she never thought would happen.

"Madam Pomfrey…" breathed Hermione, looking at the irate medi-witch. Madam Pomfrey looked up and smiled.

"Now, now, Hermione," she said in a soft voice. "I'm hardly a school nurse any longer. I've been relieved of my post since the war began and Voldemort drove us from the castle. You may call me Poppy now."

"Oh—er—alright, Poppy," Hermione obliged. "I was wondering if there's anyway you could check to see if I am…er…with child."

"Pregnant?" questioned Poppy, aghast. "I certainly hope you don't mean by Lucius Malfoy!" There was an awkward silence. "Dear girl, did he—"

"Madam Pom—Poppy, I would really rather we not talk about it," Hermione explained. "I was just wondering if there was some way that you could check and see."

Poppy nodded and raised her wand, tapping Hermione's lower abdomen six times. A little picture appeared before the two witches, something that reminded Hermione of an ultrasound photograph. The brunette let out a relieved sigh when she saw that there was no sign of life on the screen and then fell back onto her bed, reaching for her nightgown.

"Now, I do believe that's everything," Poppy muttered, giving Hermione a quick examination before nodding her head. "Yes, it is." There was a knock on the door and both witches looked up, Hermione pulling her nightgown over her head and Poppy adjusting her robes slightly. "Yes, who is it?"

"Poppy," came Snape's severe voice. "There are…_people_ here who wish to see Miss Granger. Shall I let them in?"

"No, she needs her rest," the medi-witch replied. Hermione rested a hand on the older woman's forearm.

"No, Poppy, I really think it would do me some good to see some friendly faces after what I've been through," Hermione reasoned.

"Oh fine!" Poppy grumbled, looking dejected. "Let them in, Severus!"

The door creaked open and Hermione's face brightened considerably with whom she saw. Harry Potter, Ron and Ginny Weasley, Nymphadora Tonks, and Remus Lupin all entered the room. Harry, Ron, and Ginny all raced over and took Hermione into a bone-crushing bear hug. Hermione, still sore with the pain, let out a squeaky protest.

"Guys, be gentle, okay?" pleaded Hermione. "I'm not in the best condition."

"We know!" cried Ginny, who had tears leaking down her face.

"You were in a bad way when Snape brought you here," explained Ron. "All battered and bruised. We weren't sure if you were going to make it. What happened anyway? Where have you been?"

"Ron, I'd prefer it if we didn't touch on this subject just yet, okay? I'll tell you when the time comes but I don't want to think about it," Hermione explained, looking down and taking a deep breath. "But you guys have to fill me in. I've been incarcerated since graduation and I haven't the slightest what's going on." By that time, Tonks and Lupin had joined them. Hermione hugged Tonks and received a sympathetic pat on the shoulder from Lupin. "So, what's happened? What have I missed?"

"Oh, no you don't," barked Poppy. "I think this is enough excitement for one night. You need your rest, Miss Granger, or else you won't heal properly. I'll have the elves bring up your dinner, you'll eat, and then you'll take some of this Dreamless Sleep Potion! There will be no fussing about past events this evening. And just to be sure that you do as you are told, I'm going to have Severus watch you and make sure!"

Hermione opened her mouth to protest, obviously annoyed by the fact that the woman was treating her like a child, which, in her perspective, she no longer was. Poppy held up her hand and shook her head, giving Hermione a fierce stare and causing the brunette to snap her mouth shut. Poppy ushered all by Severus Snape from the room and then left herself. Hermione, grumbling, crawled back into the large, comfortable bed and relaxed into the pillows. She saw Snape flick his wand at an armchair encircling the fire and enchant it to float over and sit next to the bed. He reclined into it, staring pointedly at the fire.

"Thank you," Hermione said after a few minutes of silence. Snape jumped at the abrupt break in the quietness that had surrounded them and turned his black gaze to her. The fire in the grate cast an almost eerie glow in his eyes and ominous shadows about his face.

"What did you say?" he asked her, his voice the same velvety purr it had always been.

"I said 'thank you'," she repeated, sitting up and resting her back against the large, oak headboard, "for getting me out of there. Out of Malfoy Manor."

"Do not thank me, Miss Granger," he replied, his face of stony seriousness. "I was merely doing my job. Nothing more."

"Oh," murmured Hermione, tersely, turning her eyes to the fire and just staring at the crackling flames. Again, there was silence and, again, Hermione spoke up. "But still, I am grateful. I mean…I don't know what I mean. I just feel like I should be thanking you. I should probably apologize too."

"And what, pray tell, are you apologizing for, Miss Granger?" asked Snape, looking back toward her face.

"I thought…I thought you might have really been a Death Eater, when I saw you coming into the dungeons, even though I knew better," she explained, twiddling with her hands. "I guess I was just in so much pain that I really didn't think about it. All I remember thinking when I saw you was '_Oh great, just what I need right now…more Death Eater scum to make my life a living hell.'_…Oops! Sorry."

Snape smirked. "Miss Granger, maybe it would be better for you to stop prattling on and some of that rest that Poppy was talking about. All of this chitchatting seems just to get you even more riled up."

Hermione opened her mouth to retort angrily when there was a loud popping sound and a tray appeared on the bedside table, laden with food for both of the occupants of the room. Snape picked up the tray and approached Hermione, after he had set his own dish on the table. He rested the dish on Hermione's knees and then sat back down, paying know regard to his own food.

"What, not hungry?" she asked him, glancing between him and the untouched meal on the bedside table.

"Not remotely," he replied. "But whether I am hungry or not is not the issue so be quit and eat your own meal. I have other things that need tending to other than you." Hermione felt the color rising in her cheeks.

"Well, I'm sorry to hold you up, professor," retorted Hermione, taking a gulp of pumpkin juice and looking at him angrily.

"Not at all," he replied sarcastically, smirking slightly.

Snape watched Hermione eat in silence. The brunette finished her food quickly and then reached for the bottle of Dreamless Sleep Potion on her bedside table, ready to get to image of Severus Snape out of her mind. '_I thank him, and what does he do? He bloody treats me like a child. Of all the nerve…'_ She poured the required amount of potion in a cup and downed it, quick and easy. She nestled herself into her bed and quickly the potion started taking over. She felt her lids began to droop heavily as sleep overcame her. The last thing she remembered seeing before the warm sensation of dreamland washed over her was the image of Severus Snape pulling the satin coverlet up her body.

…

Severus was finishing up in the girl's room when there was a soft knock. With a flick of his wand, the light in the fireplace extinguished and he moved slowly over to the door, grasping the doorknob in his pale hand and pulling it open with a loud, disconcerting '_creeeak.'_ She pointed his wand at the person on the other side and was greeted by a pair of kind blue eyes behind half-moon spectacles. The blues eyes stared at the wand pointing in between them and there was a light, raspy laugh to be heard from the man before the Potions Master.

"Well, it's good to see you as well, Severus," greeted the old man. Severus dropped his wand to his side and let out the breath he'd been unconsciously holding in.

"Albus…" he breathed, relaxing visibly. "I am sorry. I am not used to being in such…different surroundings."

"Yes, yes," Dumbledore wheezed. "You're apprehension is not out of place here. Everyone seems tense now that the war had taken such a…drastic turn. How is Miss Granger by the way? Am I too late to see her conscious? Poppy just informed me as I have been up above dealing with a few matters regarding out dementor issue. It seems there will be no turning them to our advantage."

"Yes, well, Miss Granger has already been laid down, Albus," Severus replied, extinguishing the last few torches and then exiting the room with the older man.

The ex-Death Eater had never seen Albus Dumbledore in such a way. He was actually beginning to look as old as he was. His hair, which had once been a shiny silver, was a dimming gray and his eyes had lost a bit of twinkle. The wrinkles, especially around the eyes and mouth, were deepening and becoming more apparent, as were the black circles around the eyes that showed the elder man had not been sleeping properly.

"How is she, though?" questioned Dumbledore. "I cannot imagine her coming from Malfoy Manor after such a long stay with minor cuts and bruises. Was the damage irreparable?"

"Not mostly, no," replied Severus. "She had been extremely beaten and raped. Lucius spared no mercy for her. Poppy had informed me that Miss Granger…asked to be checked for anyone…other life that may be residing in her body." Dumbledore shook his head as the two men walked down the hall. "Poppy says she will heal physically…but emotionally, she may always live with a fear of intimacy with a man again."

"I see…" rasped Dumbledore, shaking his head in despair. "It is a shame such an innocent was taken like that. We can only hope for the best now. Has she been informed?"

"Not yet," Severus replied. "Poppy made them wait until morning. There is going to be quite a bit of explaining and I hope you will be there to assist since to pick the best times to disappear."

"I will be there, Severus," Dumbledore assured. "No need to worry. For now, I think I could use a good rest, as I'm sure everyone could in these dark days of ours."

"And it is a mercy if anyone shall find it," Severus finished before turning into his own room and locking the door.

**AN: **Did I mention how dark and depressing this story might turn out to be?


	3. Chapter Two

**AN: **I actually like this story a lot! I think I might work on it for a while. It's turning out better than I thought it would. All of my attempts were flops! Major flops…but this! I actually have an idea of where I'm going with this! I think I might still have to take breaks here and there, you know, to rearrange thoughts and ideas. Anyway, here's the story.

VM13

PS I'm sorry if any of the information doesn't fit with the six book or anything to do with Hitler and the holocaust…I never was one for history and I limited resources.

**If the End Comes**

**By: VeilMistress13**

•**Chapter Two•**

Hermione rolled over onto her side, blinking in and out of sleep as the sun peeked through a gap in the thick red curtains covering the window. She buried her face into her pillow and let out a low, incomprehensible sentence while pulling the coverlet over her head to shield the light from her still tired eyes.

"Always the dictionary, Miss Granger," came the same velvety purr from the night before. "Do you always speak in foreign languages when you are just waking up?"

Hermione shot up in her bed and rubbed her eyes, looking around and spotting a fully dressed Snape standing in a shadowy corner of the room. She yawned and stretched languidly, resting her back against her headboard and then taking in Severus Snape for the first time since she'd seen him at Malfoy Manor. His hair, which Hermione had once remembered as shoulder-length, lank, and greasy, had become very straight and very long, tied back in a loose ponytail at the nape of his neck. His beetle black eyes were still cold and guarded but seemed to be filed with more knowledge and memories. He was still tall with broad shoulders and clothes in black robes.

"Good morning, professor," she greeted, finally. "Have you been here long?"

"Not at all, Miss Granger," he replied, stepping from the shadows. "Only about ten minutes. That gave me a supple amount of time to debate whether to throw the curtains open and wake you up or to retreat."

"And your decision?" Hermione inquired, slipping off the bed and stretching again, still sore in her joints and ribs.

"I had elected the former but you began to wake up on your own so I left it," he replied. "Poppy left you clothes on you trunk. I will wait outside of your room for you."

Hermione merely nodded and then rounded the bed to the trunk sitting at the foot of it. She picked up the simple white blouse and gray pleated skirt that somehow reminded Hermione of school. She dressed and was pulling her knee socks up her legs when she spied herself in the mirror. She nearly fell of the bed, which she was sitting on, and gasped in shock at her frightful appearance. If her hair had once been bushy, the word was now an understatement to the mass of frizz and curls that were tangled at the top of her head. She pulled the second sock on and jumped down, running to the mirror and gazing in, mournfully. There were scars on her face here and there and she looked dreadfully thin, like a good wind would have been the end for her. She also looked very tired.

Something on a table next to the dresser gleamed in the sunlight from the crack in the curtains and Hermione looked over, spying a pair of scissors. She grabbed them in her hand and smiled at them. Her room was like the Room of Requirement, always things popping up when you need them. Hermione hesitantly grabbed a loose curl and lifted the scissors up to them, snipping it a good two inches shorter, making it chin-length. She grimaced slightly at the new length but continued on making the rest of her hair the same length…well, at least tried to. When she was done, she frowned. '_Well, I suppose it is a little uneven but it will do.'_ She nodded to her reflection, which shook its head in regret. Hermione pointedly ignored, gave an irritated look to the hair on the floor, and, deciding that she'd clean it up when she had a wand, left the room.

"Bloody hell!" cried Snape, very uncharacteristically, upon seeing her butchered hair. "That certainly is…different." Hermione grimaced again.

"Does it look bad?" she inquired, seeing the shocked expression on the Potions Master's face.

"Good heavens!" came a loud shout of surprise. "Hermione, what happened to your hair? It looks like you got in a fight with the scissors and lost terribly!" Hermione looked over her shoulder to see Ginny coming toward her. The older witch let out a defeated sigh.

"I was only going for a new look," she stated, turning toward her redheaded friend. "Would you mind evening it out for me?"

"Sure!" squealed Ginny, grateful to have some time to talk to the friend that had disappeared so suddenly after graduation and had been missing for nearly a month. Hermione then turned to Snape.

"You can go on," she told him. "I'll have Ginny show me to the dinning room after we're done." He nodded at her and left down the hall.

Hermione and Ginny retreated into the brunette's room where the youngest Weasley spotted the hair on the floor and, with a flick of her wand, it disappeared. Hermione blinked at her.

"Are you sure you can do that?" Hermione questioned. "I mean, aren't you still underage?"

"No, not since He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named took over the Ministry," Ginny explained. "Dumbledore sort of…disillusioned our wands. Making them undetectable by You-Know-Who. Anyway, where are the scissors? Ah, there they are. Sit down in front of the mirror and we'll start."

Hermione plopped down onto the floor and listened to the sounds of cutting scissors as Ginny snipped here and there. Only small pieces fell to the floor and Hermione was relieved to see that she seemed to be doing everything all right. When the redhead was finished, Hermione got to her feet and turned every which way, feeling the back of her head and checking it in the mirror. Everything seemed all right. Every strand seemed straight.

"Does this look okay on me?" asked Hermione, feeling the tips of her newly cut hair tentatively.

"It looks great!" exclaimed Ginny. "Let me just magic it permanent so that it doesn't grow back out into a bird's nest overnight." Hermione gave a half-hearted glare at her friend's description of her once messy hair. Ginny laughed nervously. "Let's go to breakfast and show off your new hair. Everyone is dying to see you." She flicked her wand at Hermione's hair and then nodded in satisfaction "Okay. Ready to go?"

"As I'll ever be," replied Hermione and they both started for the bedroom door.

The two walked almost silently down the corridor. Ginny was drifting in her own thoughts while Hermione tried to focus on the stairs they were going down, which were made of hard stone. The surroundings quickly became darker and danker with each step they took down the long staircase. '_This isn't Number 12 Grimmauld Place…'_ thought Hermione, taking in the depressing lobby as they reached the foot of the stairs.

"Gin, where are we?" Hermione finally asked as they turned and started toward a pair of overly large double doors.

"Huh?" asked Ginny, being pulled from her silent reverie. "Oh! Well, I'm not too sure. Dumbledore said that it was some kind of muggle place that was used during a war to hide refugees. I don't remember too much else about it. I was kind of…scared by the odd choice of décor." Hermione nodded as she and Ginny pushed open the double doors and entered a large dinning hall.

The dinning hall had a dark, mysterious look to it. There was a long, oak table, long enough to fit all of the houses, directly in the middle. People were scattered about it, eating breakfast or reading the Daily Prophet. Ginny and Hermione made across the hall and sat down next to Ron and Harry, who were craning their necks over an opened Daily Prophet, staring at a picture of a cackling cartoon of Voldemort.

"'Morning," the two boys greeted distractedly.

"What are you reading?" asked Hermione, sitting to Harry's right and leaning over the table to read the article as well.

'**_Doom's Day?'_ **it read.

'_The days have grown darker and many now know that the Dark Lord has taken over the Ministry. Deaths are increasing by the thousands each day, in both muggle and wizarding worlds alike. Death Eater's have reached large numbers and have even succeeded in infiltrating and overrunning Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in Scotland, as well as other large wizarding schools (i.e. Durmstrang, Salem, Beauxbaton, etc.)._

'_The whereabouts of the infamous Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore are currently unknown, though some witness say they were last seen fleeing from the country. This reporter is dying to know whether or not this will be the end of existence, as we know it. Is this the proverbial and Catholic-related Doom's Day? Only time will tell._

'_Where is the famous boy-who-lived when we need him and will this chaos ever have an end?'_

Hermione let out a sigh and rested her hands in her head, wishing that she could be blissfully ignorant of the goings on forever. She shook her head in despair and watched as Harry closed the newspaper and handed it over to Caefyne Mallince, a witch Hermione had had the pleasure of meeting in her seventh year. Hermione glanced at the food that had magically appeared on her plate but did not feel like eating anymore. She, instead, pushed the plate away and turned to Harry and Ron expectantly.

"Well?" she asked. "Is someone going to inform me of what's happened to the world since I left? Or am I to remain unawares of our situation?"

Harry let out a sigh and also turned in his seat. Ron pulled his chair around Harry's so the two were sitting side by side and staring at Hermione. There eyes wandered to Hermione's hair and they opened their mouths to say something, but the brunette raised her hand for silence.

"Don't skirt the subject by starting on my hair," she demanded. "We're talking about the world right now, and then you can ask all you want, okay?" The boys nodded.

Harry ran a hand through his usually tousled hair, as he seemed to regain all of the events.

"'Mione," he started, giving Hermione a softened look that told her what she was about to hear was not going to be pleasant. "I don't know where you've been but you gave me and Ron and everyone a start. We thought you might have been dead…for all we knew, with what's going on, you could have been dead. Horrible things have happened. I'm not sure if you're aware, but Voldemort and the Death Eaters permeated the Ministry of Magic and killed the Minister, as well as all who got in his way…" There was silence and Ron took over.

"My dad and Hagrid were two of the casualties. Bad things happen when you're in the wrong place at the wrong time…" Ron's voice was etched with sadness, anger, and vengeance.

"Well, in any case," Harry continued, "you know how the Ministry knew that we were using magic when we were underage or when we use an unforgivable?" Hermione nodded. "Well, Voldemort got a hold of that and tracked all of the wands over Britain. He sent Death Eaters after us when we had just gotten out of school and ran us out of the country. We're still in Britain but when we leave, we are automatically taken somewhere far away. For Ron and me it's to Tokyo but everyone else goes to different places. Dumbledore invented this sort of charm that you can use that confuses the tracking system in the ministry, making it seem like when we use our magic, we're using it somewhere other than here."

"Pardon me, Harry," interrupted Hermione. "But where exactly is 'here'?"

"It's a bomb shelter that Britain built when Hitler and his Nazis were invading the world during the holocaust," Harry explained. "We've warded it until there's no other way to protect it. Added onto it so that it's become more of a Head Quarters. Normally, we would have been on Grimmauld place but Kreacher let it…'_slip'_ to Lucius Malfoy about it, giving him that piece of parchment that Moody wrote for me. They invaded and we were run out again. It was becoming a nuisance having to run away all the time. We had to find a place where we wouldn't be found out and somewhere where only those that were trustable could come. We magicked the entrances so that no one who had any intention of blabbing about our hiding place could get in and anyone who had once been trustable suddenly decided to switch sides would forget anything the saw immediately and forget where the entrances to the head quarters was."

"Brilliant!" breathed Hermione. There was twinkle in her eyes for the thought of such genius but then, quickly it was gone. She suddenly bowed her head. "Has-has anyone else…died?" her voice was small and wavering.

Harry, Ron and Ginny all bowed their heads. Ginny took a deep breath and began to answer.

"Well, there was Seamus…he was killed because he was half…" she explained. "Katie and Alicia were killed at a tryout for the Hollyhead Harpies. Professor Flitwick went down defending the castle…" Ginny lifted her head. "There were casualties on both sides, though. Harry took out Rudolphus Lestrange, though he really wanted to get red of Bellatrix. Professor Snape secretly assassinated McNair not too long back. It was bloody brilliant." Ginny sighed. "We weren't sure if we should have held a memorial service for you, though. If you don't mind us asking…where were you?"

Hermione looked from person to person of the three sitting around her. She could feel her stomach knotting up as she debated on whether she would tell them or not. Her mind was racing and she made eye contact with each of her three friends.

"You guys…if it's all right, I'd rather we didn't talk about it yet," she murmured, looking down at her fidgeting hands. "It's just too soon." An awkward silence drifted over them and none of Ginny, Harry, and Ron looked satisfied with her answer. "Maybe if you give me a little time for it all to sink in."

"So—er—what's with the hair?" asked Harry, deciding to change the subject.

"Well, I just thought I needed a change," Hermione replied. "Does it look okay? Not too boyish?"

"No, really, it suits you," Harry replied, smiling.

"But since when have you worried about being too _boyish_?" teased Ron, receiving a playful slap on the arm from Hermione.

"Well, being boyish never seemed to bother you much, Ronald Weasley!" Hermione retorted, smirking slightly. Ron's ears colored and he turned back to his plate of food.


	4. Chapter Three

**AN: Spotlights:**

**prin69: **Thank you so much for being my first review. I hope you enjoy the rest of the story as much as I enjoyed laying it out for you.

**blondearianne:** I am also overjoyed that most Sevvy fans welcome the HGSS pairing, though my friend is constantly trying to logic me out of it. (sigh) You're in denial? About what?

**saz293: **Sure will. Thanks for the review.

**phantominhell: **I'm glad it sounds like a good story…I hope it _is _a good story. Read on, read on.

**MidnightDreams261: **Did I update soon enough for you? I hope so. Review again.

**DragonChaos: **Glad you like it. I love it when Sevvy saves Mione, it's so romantic.

**coldqueen: **I know, it's hard to believe that anyone would be safe with Sevvy. Anyway, about your very long review about the rape and stuff, I also do not like it when it's all "Boo hoo, I got raped, now I think I'll go shag Severus Snape." Really ticks me off. Anyway, several good writers became victims of their own mistakes I can only hope I do not. Anyway, thanks for the great reviews and the warning. And yes, Harry is a smart little boy…though he (especially) technically is an adult. Hope you review again.

**Artemis Virgin Goddess: **Short, sweet and to the point with your review. Okay, is this soon enough?

**PhantomPirate: **Oh, you're so nice…thank you. And when you said you thought it said two chapters when there was only one…well, I could have just updated and it takes a little while for the update to really be there…and I think is having issues right now. There was this story I was reading that only has 19 chapters, but it says it has 23. Glad to find another Rickman fan since there aren't so many out there and I don't plan to discontinue it. I might delay it sometimes, but never discontinue it…well, unless I die of course.

**Professor Jaida: **I hope it _is _good. I'll update soon, just for you.

**bootyful77: **You won't believe how much I hate it when I do that. You know, but she where there's supposed to be a he or vice versa! I do it all the time and I hate it! I do re-read over my stories, but my mind is on like…auto-correct and so I don't see the errors. I'll try and be more careful though it will happen at least once in every chapter. And when you asked me why Dumbledore is alive…I don't get that. Does he like die in the sixth book or something? If I said he was dead in first few chapters, I didn't mean to but yes, he is alive in my fic.

**MyEmeraldEyes: **I hope you learned everything you wanted to know but there are still many more secrets to be discovered in my story. Read on!

**Natalie Skywalker: **Good, someone who doesn't mind dark fics. This actually might turn out okay, but I was in a dark mood when I started it. Who knows when that strange mood will strike again?

**SilverAngel99: **(blush) Oh wow, gee thanks. So nice. I hope you like it. Review again please!

**SilentWriter32: **I know, rape is a very touchy subject but it is now a part of modern life. Most people don't like to talk about it but it is very real and I did say this was going to be kind of a dark story. Besides, the rape was crucial to the plot. You'll see soon.

**DudetRin101: **I like how you spell cool. Kewl. I like that.

**acdecnerd: **Okie dokie, smoky!

**m4srat:** Yes, I love Snape being in the Order. Gives me more ideas…and what about Dumbledore being alive? Does he die in the sixth book?

There you go. Review, review, review! IWUS!

VM13

PS I am very grateful for all of your reviews.

**If the End Comes**

**By: VeilMistress13**

•**Chapter Three•**

Hermione followed Ginny, who was nipping on the heels of her brother, who was walking in-stride with Harry. They were walking swiftly down a long corridor, the walls, ceiling, and floor all made of a dark gray stone with torches decorating the walls and lanterns covering the ceiling. Harry, Ron, and Ginny were each pointing here and there, announcing what was behind each door and sometimes allowing a glance inside.

"These are our rooms, in the way back of the shelter," Harry said, pushing the door open and allowing all four of them to enter into the large room. It had two dressers, two wardrobes, two, seemingly empty, bookshelves, and two large red and gold four-poster beds that nearly mimicked Hermione, if it wasn't for the fact that they were messy and unmade.

"I'm guessing there aren't any house-elves?" questioned Hermione, glaring disapprovingly at the messy beds.

"You'll be happy to know that there aren't," Ron replied, smirking. "So how is _spew_?"

"It's S.P.E.W., Ronald!" snapped Hermione. "And _you'll_ be happy to know that I've disbanded it."

"Aww, really?" asked Ron in mock-sadness. "I was sorta starting to see your point. That really is too—" _WHAP!_ A crisp, silky pillow came flying into his face and caught him off guard. The pillow slid off his face to show a rather surprised expression but also gave him full view of the playful glower on Hermione's face.

"That's enough," she scoffed, heading for the door. "There's still more you need to show me. You aren't finished yet." Ron sighed and followed his three friends out of the room.

They continued down the hall, pointing out doors and such along the way as they had before. Hermione was allowed to see the inside of the Intelligence Depart, which was mostly filled with aurors that had survived the attack on the Ministry and several members of the Order. Hermione returned a waved to Lupin and Tonks, and flashed a toothy smile at Kingsley before backing out of the room.

"Those are McGonagall's chambers, right across from Dumbledore's and next to Tonks'," Harry explained pointing out the doors. "This leads to the library but you can't get in there without permission from Dumbledore. I know what you're thinking but he's super warded it so, unless you'd prefer to be turned into a gelatin dessert, I'd advise against attempting to go in." Harry stared pointedly at the door at the very end, almost glaring at it before turning around. "Well, that's it."

"No it isn't," Hermione chimed, pointing at the door. "What's in there, Harry?" Harry and Ron grimaced.

"That's Snape's quarters and the Potions lab. If you do go in there, knock first," Harry warned. "I went in to get him for a meeting with Dumbledore and he hexed me so many times I lost count…before I was even in the door. He's rather…defensive lately. Doesn't trust anyone."

"Well that's understandable," Hermione replied. "I mean, he is a spy after all. He has to be on his toes at all times, doesn't he?" Harry grunted in agreement and then started down the corridor, everyone behind him. Ginny snickered.

"What's so funny?" whispered Hermione, lagging behind with Ginny at her side.

"Oh, it was when Harry came back from that little incident with Snape," Ginny laughed quietly. "Dumbledore did his best to remove all of the hexes but…oddly enough, he couldn't get rid of the really embarrassing one. Harry walked into the dinning hall for dinner with brilliant pink hair and puffy red lips. I've never seen Harry look so…feminine."

Hermione couldn't hold it in and let out a loud laugh, getting the attention of the two boys in front of them. Ginny clapped a hand over her friend's mouth to silence her, giving her brother and the Boy-Who-Lived nervous smiles and pushing through them to get ahead with her hand still on Hermione's mouth.

The group of friend's made their way to the dinning hall for lunch, sitting at the end of the table closest to the large double doors. Hermione found that she wasn't very hungry, for some odd reason. She had a nagging feeling that something wasn't quite as it should be. She had ever since they'd begun the tour of the bomb shelter that had become the head quarters for much of the aurors and the Order of the Phoenix. She sighed and took a sip of pumpkin juice while glaring at the egg salad sandwich sitting on her plate before her.

"You 'kay, 'Mione?" asked Ron, through a mouthful of grilled ham and cheese. He gulped it down. "You look like you've been stung by a blast-ended skrewt."

"I'm just not that hungry," she replied, pushing the plate away. Ron shrugged and continued to eat, chatting with Harry about quidditch in between or through bite of food or mouthful's of juice.

Hermione let out a sigh and took to looking up and down the large table, taking in several unfamiliar faces. She was going to inquire who they were then the double doors opened and her attention was turned to the entering person. What she saw made her jump to her feet. Draco Malfoy was strolling in as if it were something he did everyday. For a moment, their eyes locked and he made to back out of the room.

"_You!_" she hissed, fumbling around her chairs and snatching up Harry's wand, which had been sitting next to his plate absently, she pointed it at the retreating blonde. All of her fury and hatred for Malfoy Senior was suddenly conjured up with the sight of his son.

"Hermione, wait!" cried Ginny, trying to stop her friend. "You don't understand!"

Hermione was hearing none of it, however, and stormed out of the dinning hall after Draco. She stumbled here and there on the stone floor as she struggled to catch up with him, as he had turned and started running. She was screaming curses, though missed by either a few inches or several feet. She raised the wand and opened her mouth, ready to shriek an Unforgivable, when a hand snatched the wand from her and pulled her back away from the flustered, frightened Draco Malfoy, who had tripped and lay sprawled on the floor.

Feeling the arm around her shoulders, holding her back thousands of images flashed into her mind. Pale, icy hands…bereft of any mercy, kneading into her skin, scratching at her body in unbridled lust, causing pain and agony and sorrow. Being intruded, intimately intruded by a man who had killed many and had captured her only for the use of her body. She began to tremble, her body becoming limp for a moment before she screamed and thrashed around, desperate to get out of the clutches of whoever was restraining.

"No! Don't touch me! Let go! I said LET GO, you bastard!" she cried, pushing against the arm on her shoulders. She dropped to her knees, blinking her eyes.

"Miss Granger!" snapped an all too familiar voice as she clutched her head and tried to rid herself of the images that kept coming back. She opened her eyes and looked behind her, up into the black eyes of Snape. He was giving her thoroughly disturbed look.

"Oh, dear!" gasped Poppy, coming in and finding two of her old students on the floor and very white Snape standing above Hermione. "What has happened here? Severus, what did you do?"

"What did _I_ do?" repeated the Potions Master snappishly. "All _I_ did was stop Miss Granger from hexing Mr. Malfoy into a million pieces, Poppy!"

"No one's explained his presence to Hermione?" questioned Poppy, placing her hands on her hips and glaring at Harry, Ron, and Ginny who were all standing in the doorway of the dinning hall.

"Er—" murmured Ginny.

"It kind of slipped our mind, Madam Pomfrey," replied Harry, scratching his scalp and giving the best innocent look he could. Poppy did not seem reassured and strode over to Hermione who was still crumpled on the floor whimpering.

"Hermione…" she coaxed. "Come; let's go to your room. You need to talk about this with someone or else it will eat you alive. Come, I'll tell all about why Mr. Malfoy and other's are here."

"Others…?" whispered Hermione, looking up and letting her hands drop from her head. Poppy knelt down and enveloped the girl in a hug.

"Let's go talk about it in your room," the medi-witch whispered, pulling the brunette to her feet and taking her toward a nearby corridor.

"Mr. Malfoy," said Snape, turning to look at the young man on his back on the floor, his platinum blonde hair mussed all over his head and he robes a mess around him. "Coming with me. There are things we need to discuss." Draco nodded and got to his feet, dusting off his Slytherin green robes before following his old Head of House down a different corridor.

McGonagall had been summoned to Hermione's room, with a request from the young girl herself. The elderly Transfiguration teacher had arrived in little under five minutes and joined Hermione, sitting beside the girl on her bed and patting her back. Hermione's stomach churned uncomfortably as she thought about what she was going to have to relive through words in just a few minutes.

"Hermione, I know that this must be hard to talk about," McGonagall comforted in her thick Scottish accent. "But you need to get this off your chest before you have another horrible break down."

"I know," whispered Hermione, feeling the elderly woman rubbing her back while Poppy discussed something with someone on the other side of the door. Soon, Poppy was presented with tea and tea service and she approached the other two witches, setting the tray down on the bedside table.

"Let's have some tea and then we can talk about it," Poppy murmured, pouring tea into three cups and handing one to McGonagall and Hermione before picking up her own and conjuring a chair to sit on.

Hermione took a sip of her tea and sighed at the feeling of warmth that washed over her. She knew she was trembling and she set her cup and saucer down on the bedside table beside the tea service.

"I don't know where to start…" she breathed, looking down at her lap where she clasped her hands together.

"They say the beginning is always the best place," McGonagall offered. "How did you come to be at Malfoy Manor?"

Hermione shuddered. "I was at the ministry, the day after graduation. Dumbledore had Hagrid escort me so that I could get my apparation license and register for animagus training…I don't know quite what happened. It was just flashed by in a blur. I remember there was a lot of screaming and people showing hexes and Unforgivables. Hagrid passed me off to Meredith Kelsey and told her to get me out of there. We were going to leave out of an emergency exit when someone shot Miss Kelsey down. They stunned me…I fell, hit my head on the corner of the fountain, and passed out." Hermione paused and took a deep breath. McGonagall had also set her tea down and had returned to rubbing Hermione's back.

"I woke up and at first…I couldn't see anything. The room was dark and cold and smelled like rotting flesh, I was afraid to look around when my eyes adjusted to the lack of light. I looked up, and I saw Lucius Malfoy standing over me. He looked like a maniac. He was breathing hard and his eyes were large with dilated pupils. Then…he did things…he did things to me. Touched me…he…he…" Hermione stopped and bowed her head, shaking it as if to say she couldn't go further. Tears she had been holding back began to drip from her eyes and fall onto the soft fabric of her skirt.

"That man is an utter bastard…" breathed Poppy, shaking her head. "Not just once did I think about hexing him…that man is pure evil, the devil's advocate." Hermione nodded.

Elsewhere in the head quarters, in a dark stone room with six cauldrons lining the walls, two other figures were speaking. One with dark raven hair and the other with bright, silvery-blond hair.

"Mr. Malfoy, I don't think I need to tell you that Miss Granger is in a state," Snape stated, leaning against the desk at the front of the room that was scattered with papers. "Are you aware of where she was before she came here?"

Draco stared up at his old Potions professor. "I do believe Lucius may have mentioned something about it, but I thought he was bluffing. Bragging to the rest of the inner circle. Is it true, then?"

"Quite," Snape replied. "She's lucky to be alive right now, let alone performing any type of magic. Your father is a vicious man, I'm sure you know. I think it is best, with her current…emotional condition that you stay a good space away from her while she recovers. No doubt most of this will be a shock to her." Draco nodded. "You are dismissed. I have things I must attend to…"

Draco exited the potion lab and was met by a flash of long, plaited red hair. He looked down and saw that Ginny Weasley was standing in front of him.

"Hi," she said, opening her arms. Draco chuckled and obliged the hug, dropping his arm over her shoulder as they began to walk down the hall.

"Hello," he replied, smirking. "Just can't get enough of me, huh?"

"What did Snape want?" asked Ginny, pretending not to have heard him.

"Just warning me that I should stay away from Granger for a little while," he answered. "Has she talked to you about where she disappeared to?"

"Not yet. She's not ready but I get the feeling she's probably talking about it now with Madam Pomfrey, only because the old woman is dragging it out of her," she said and sighed, looking down at her feet. Draco squeezed her shoulder.

"Don't look so down, love," he said. "I don't think it would be wise to tell her about '_us'_ any time soon, either. It might be…too much for her." Ginny nodded, still looking down.

The two of them went on to the dinning hall, while Hermione remained in her room, drowning in her own tears.

**AN: **Bleh. This chapter didn't turn out so well. Oh well. Review please!


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